Mumbai: The Duleep Trophy holds a special significance in KL Rahul’s career. It’s the platform he used to get his international break, playing for South Zone in the 2014–15 final against Central Zone. Rahul scored 185 off 233 balls in the first innings and 130 off 152 in the second. He was named Player-of-the-Match.

The national selectors saw great potential in the Karnataka batter and selected him in the Test squad for the Australia tour that followed. He struck a solid hundred in his second Test, scoring 110 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Here was a batter who had the game for all conditions, be it the turning tracks at home or the faster, bouncier pitches overseas.

From there, he was earmarked for great things, even seen as India captain material. Ten years on, as he starts another season with the Duleep Trophy, it can’t be said that Rahul has fully realised his early potential. There have been dazzling innings where his strokeplay has taken the breath away. But for someone with his talent, Rahul won’t be entirely satisfied with the output.

Had Rahul risen to a level he was expected to, then his would have been the first name as captain of one of the four Duleep Trophy teams. Among the players named for the first round of matches, he is the most experienced along with Ravindra Jadeja.

A veteran of 50 Tests who has already captained India in three Tests, with two wins in them, it is surprising to see him listed only as a player, picked in the A team under Shubman Gill, who is now seen as a future captain.

If Rahul had excused himself from the responsibility when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee picked the squads, it was not mentioned in the BCCI media release. Team B is led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, Team C by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Team D by Shreyas Iyer.

The men who matter in BCCI certainly want to see something more from Rahul. In terms of his class, they have no doubt. The best proof of it was in the Test innings he played last December at Centurion’s SuperSport Park, against South Africa.

On a pitch where every other batter was struggling, Rahul’s stroke-making was a sight to behold as he scored 101 out of a total of 245. It was an effort which showed he could handle the hostile conditions in South Africa, which has been a challenge for most batters from the sub-continent.

So, what’s the issue? Being injury prone is one, and the second thing that is being scrutinised is whether he can stay tuned throughout, after he plays a special knock. The team wants their future captain to be one who will be switched on all the time.

At the moment, there are two versions of Rahul – one the dominating, classy player and the other who will suddenly go into his shell. The team management is not sure which version will be seen on the day.

An example of it was the 2023 World Cup. On a very difficult, sluggish Chennai track, against Australia in the opening game with the team under the pump at three wickets down for two runs, Rahul came out and played a knock of supreme skill to win the game with an unbeaten 97 off 115 balls.

However, in the final, against the same opposition, he played like a batter who had forgotten his scoring areas, labouring to 66 off 107 balls. Overall, Rahul was one of India’s top performers at the World Cup, aggregating 452 runs in 10 innings, laced with a hundred and two fifties, at No.5. But the innings in the final took some sheen off his performances.

The team management wants him to play freely, stick to his natural game and not get bogged down.

It has not helped that he has had frequent injury breakdowns, resulting in extended lay-offs. In his long injury list, the most ill-timed was the one he suffered in the first Test against England in January. In the absence of Virat Kohli, who was on a break, India were heavily reliant on Rahul to hold the middle order together in Hyderabad. After the innings in South Africa, another good series would have further lifted Rahul’s profile.

However, his injury in the first game itself set off panic in the dressing room. To the team’s fortune, a new set of youngsters came in and delivered. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal rose to the challenge, helping India win the five-Test series 4-1 after losing in Hyderabad.

Their success and Rishabh Pant’s comeback has now increased the competition for places in the playing XI which Rahul will have to contend with.

He had good understanding with previous coach Rahul Dravid. Even Gautam Gambhir knows Rahul’s game and the quality he brings to the team, having worked together at Lucknow Super Giants. When Gambhir was LSG coach, Rahul’s leadership was impressive, getting the team into play-offs in 2022 and 2023. But his batting approach was the same, looking to build gradually rather than be explosive from the start, which is the modern trend in T20.

The inability to adapt cost him a place in India’s T20 side. He wasn’t picked for the T20 World Cup or recalled for the tours of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. Rahul came in for the ODI series in Sri Lanka, where he was batted out of place at No.6 and No.7, getting 31 runs in the first game and dismissed for a duck in the second. He was rested for the third ODI.

Ahead of the team’s departure for Sri Lanka in July, while replying to a question on Rishabh Pant, Agarkar had told the media that Rahul has been advised to reset in the build-up to the ICC Champions Trophy.

“Rishabh has been out for a long time. So, we want to bring him back without burdening him. Someone who has come back after a long time, you need to bring them back in the scheme of things gradually. KL, one of the feedbacks he has got is “you’ve got to hit the reset button”,” Agarkar had said.

India’s big assignment this season is the five-match Test series in Australia. Rahul will be a key player in the game plan. He has the game and the experience to combine with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and add steel to the line-up.

Starting with the Duleep Trophy, Rahul will look to make a statement of intent. Maybe he can find inspiration from skipper Rohit Sharma turning around his Test career at a late stage, by showing the hunger and desire.

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